Admirable Antipodeans Trivia Quiz

Answer: Donald Bradman

Although Donald Bradman was not born in South Australia, he moved there in 1934 and lived and worked in Adelaide until his death in 2001. He donated to the State Library of South Australia his memorabilia, including bats, balls trophies, and all his personal newspaper cuttings and other archival material.

The papers have been put into 52 books and can be accessed by the public at the Library. A special Bradman Museum has been built at the Adelaide Oval to house the other items.

Answer: Howard Florey

Howard Florey was born on September 24, 1898, at Adelaide, South Australia. After being educated at St. Peter's Collegiate School, Adelaide, he went on to the University of Adelaide where he graduated M.B.B.S. in 1921. In 1928, Alexander Fleming, a British scientist, noticed that a mould had prevented the growth of bacteria in his lab.

In the 1930s Florey gathered a team of scientists at Oxford University in Britain, an unusual idea at the time, to investigate the properties of anti-bacterial substances that are produced by mould. One member of the team, Ernst Chain, found an article about Alexander Fleming's work and the team began a special study of penicillin.

There were years of experiments and clinical trials, then in late 1943, mass production of the drug commenced and it was used on Allied soldiers towards the end of the war. Australia was the first country to make penicillin available to civilians.

Answer: Hans Heysen

Sir Hans Heysen was one of one of Australia's most versatile artists. His subjects included still life, portraits and seascapes in more than a dozen mediums. He is most famous for his landscapes of majestic outback gums bathed in the morning light. If you visit his home, The Cedars, many of the stands of trees that were his subjects are still visible.

Answer: Mary MacKillop

Mary MacKillop was born in Melbourne in 1842. In 1860 she began working as a governess in the small South Australian town of Penola. The local priest encouraged her to start an order of nuns which would not be bound to a convent but move to remote areas to teach Catholic children. He composed a Rule for the order that emphasised poverty and simplicity. By 1869 there were 72 sisters teaching in 21 schools as well as an orphanage and a refuge for women in distress. Not everyone accepted this new type of religious community with its emphasis on helping the most needy in society. In 1871, she was excommunicated by Bishop Sheil who took over the governing of the order. These problems went on for years and eventually Mary shifted the mother house to Sydney.

On 19 December 2009, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints issued a papal decree formally recognising a second miracle, the complete and permanent cure of Kathleen Evans of inoperable lung and secondary brain cancer in the 1990s. Her canonisation was announced on 19 February 2010 and subsequently took place on 17 October 2010. This made her the first Australian saint

Answer: Scott Hicks

Scott Hicks graduated with Honours in Drama from Flinders University, South Australia, in 1975. His Alma Mater gave him an honorary Doctorate in 1997 for his contribution to the Australian film industry. He has a long list of accomplishments as a director, writer, producer and cinematographer.

Answer: Charles Sturt

Charles Sturt, one of the most important people associated with early South Australia, was born in India in 1795. As a member of the British Army he escorted a shipment of convicts to Sydney. He stayed there for several years then, with the permission of Governor Darling, set out to solve what was called 'the riddle of the rivers'. No one knew where they went, but he eventually, with the help of local aborigines, traced the rivers to the Murray and then travelled on to its mouth on the near what is now Goolwa on the south coast of South Australia.

He later became a Justice of the Peace and the Surveyor-General of South Australia.

Answer: Gillian Rolton

Gillian Rolton was born on 3rd May, 1956, at Adelaide, South Australia. She began riding competitively at the age of ten in Show and Dressage events. At the relatively late age of 21 she started Eventing and Showjumping. She was the first Australian woman to win any sort of medal in Eventing when she won gold in Barcelona, and she repeated the feat in Atlanta, although she had fallen during the event, breaking her collarbone and ribs.

Answer: Douglas Mawson

Douglas Mawson was born in Yorkshire, in 1882, but moved to Australia, with his family, when he was two. He wanted to see the glaciers of Antarctica and joined Shackleton's expedition when he was 26. He climbed to the top of Mt Erebus, an active volcano, and Antarctica's highest point and was one of the team that was the first to reach the Magnetic South Pole. During his later expeditions he faced danger and death with courage.

His epic journey back to base in 1912 is considered one of the greatest stories of lone survival in polar exploration.

He was knighted for his contribution to our scientific understanding of Antarctica.

Answer: Robert Helpmann

Robert Helpmann was born at Mt Gambier in South Australia in 1909. From a young age he loved dancing, acting and dressing up. Fortunately he had parents who encouraged his ambitions. In 1926 he joined Anna Pavlova's company and by 1927 was dancing professionally.

As there were few opportunities for him in Australia he moved to London and, after joining the Royal Ballet, began his partnership with Margot Fonteyn. When his dancing career was over he continued to be involved in choreography and production of dance.

He also acted both on the stage and in films.

Answer: Andrew "Andy " Thomas

Born in Adelaide in 1951, Andy Thomas was another young man who knew what he wanted to do from an early age. He was always fascinated by space and after graduating with a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of Adelaide, South Australia, he went to work for Lockheed in Atlanta as a research scientist.

His career there led to leadership in various projects associated with flight and space travel. In 1992 he began training with NASA and ended up making four trips into space, including one trip where he spent 141 days on MIR space station.